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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
THE District Development Fund (DDF) has started drilling 60 boreholes in Manicaland as part of Government’s efforts to provide clean water to the people.

Treasury last month released $46 million to the DDF to facilitate the drilling of 600 boreholes across the country.

The exercise also involves rehabilitating hand pumps to restore their efficiency and productivity.

Manicaland DDF provincial head Mr Robert Chawatama said all districts had submitted priority points for the boreholes and siting was in progress.

“We have 60 boreholes to be drilled across the province under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).

“We asked the districts to give us the areas they feel are in need of urgent supply of safe water and we are using that information as we do the siting of the boreholes,” he said.

Speaking during a site visit by DDF to one of the selected water points in Chitora last week, villagers said the project was important as it will solve some of the problems communities were facing in accessing clean water.

Chitora Village head Mr Blessing Zimunya said villagers were currently accessing water from a borehole   at Chitora high and primary schools as the community borehole broke down two years back.

“When the borehole broke down, DDF came and tried to fix it, but they could not remove the pipes that had been installed.

“When Cyclone Idai came in March, the borehole was further affected,” he said.

“We now have people from at least three villages accessing water from the schools and this is putting too much pressure on that infrastructure as well.”

He said the schools were supplying water to the villagers, the clinic and the business centre, adding that there was now growing concern over disease outbreak if the situation was not solved.

Chitora High school headmaster Mr George Mwenye said the community was sharing the water with 550 learners, a situation he said was not conducive to the well-being of the students.